Gadget

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Expectant
moms, single moms, stepmoms, gay moms, estranged moms, long-lost moms
and mothers of all kinds get their due in an emotional tribute to the
tie that can’t be broken in “Mother’s Day,” an endearing and
entertaining romantic comedy about everyone’s first love, our
mothers.

Director
and producer Garry Marshall once again brings together an all-star
cast for a joyous holiday celebration in his new film, “Mother’s
Day.” Marshall tackles the complicated connection between mother
and child through a series of deftly interwoven stories that salute
the sometimes maddening, often conflicted and always powerful bond of
maternal love in a movie about the impact mothers have on their
children’s lives — even when they don’t mean to.

Jennifer
Aniston ( “Friends”), Kate Hudson (“How to Lose a Guy in
10 Days”), Julia Roberts (“Pretty Woman”), Jason Sudeikis
(“We’re the Millers”) and Britt Robertson (“Tomorrowland”)
star in interwoven stories about a group of women with one important
thing in common- mothers. In the week before the one day of the year
when Mom comes first, the lives of a group of strong, loving and
wildly imperfect women, from a divorced mother dealing with her kids’
new stepmom to a young mom trying find her own birth mother, provide
an emotional and humorous reminder that every mom is her own kind of
hero.

Julia
Roberts, marking her fourth appearance in a Garry Marshall film, was
the first star on board, agreeing to play Miranda, the queen of a
ubiquitous home shopping network. Sleekly coiffed and impeccably
turned out, Miranda has a secret that will be revealed by the end of
the film.

Jennifer
Aniston plays recently divorced Sandy with two sons. She and her
ex-husband, Henry (Timothy Olyphant), are on exceptionally good terms
until he impulsively weds his much younger girlfriend and Sandy finds
herself struggling with the idea that she’s replaceable. “It
comes out of the blue,” says Aniston. “She suddenly has to share
her children with their new stepmom. It’s a complete game changer
when another person comes in as a co-parent to your children.”

Shay
Mitchell, from the television series “Pretty Little Liars,” plays
Henry’s new wife, Tina. Tina is young and naive, but her affection
for both Henry and his children is authentic, says the actress. “She
really does care so much for the kids and is trying genuinely to play
the role of being their other mom. She doesn’t think Sandy will be
upset at all. They’re going to work as a team and raise these kids
as best they can.”

Kate
Hudson plays Jesse, a happily married mom who is estranged from her
own mother. “Jesse and her sister Gabi cut off their parents
because they have both made lives they know their parents wouldn’t
approve of. Gabi is married to a woman. Jesse married an Indian man
and has a child with him.” Hudson explains.

The
film also introduces a “Mister Mom” Bradley (played by Jason
Sudeikis), the father of two girls is facing his first Mother’s Day
without his wife, a Marine killed in combat. It has been almost a
year since her passing and the kids are trying to move forward, but
Bradley has only scratched the surface of his mourning. The storyline
adds a note of poignancy to the movie as he struggles to let go of
the past for his children’s sake.

Britt
Robertson, who recently starred opposite George Clooney in the
blockbuster "Tomorrowland," plays Kristin, a new mom who
has never met her birth mother. Kristin’s British boyfriend Zack
(Jack Whitehall) wants very much to marry her, but she’s not sure.
Adopted as an infant, Kristin fears that because she’s never known
her birth mother, she doesn’t know what kind of woman she’s going
to be. “I immediately said yes to this project,” Robertson
recalls. “I just loved all the different storylines and the
different kinds of relationships between mothers and children. I
think everyone will find a character they can relate to.”